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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27186163">Horses + Unconditional Love</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/dickgrysvn/pseuds/dickgrysvn'>dickgrysvn</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Stablehand + Stable Homes [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>MacGyver (TV 2016)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adoption, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Light Angst, This Author does not have any love for James Macgyver, all the hugs, dad!Jack, gav this is for you, leave your toxic masculinity at the door, stableverse au, teen!Mac</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 03:40:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,082</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27186163</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/dickgrysvn/pseuds/dickgrysvn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Mac is sitting cross legged on the floor, and Pepper is laying down in front of him with her head almost resting on Mac’s shoulder. It’s rare for horses to lay down unless they’re sick, and for a moment Jack is terrified that’s why Mac’s crying. Except Pepper seems fine, and Mac would have come and gotten him right away if something was wrong. Which means Pepper laid down because of Mac, and it makes Jack feel so warm inside. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>{Jack goes looking for Mac when he doesn’t show up to help with some tack. Set a few weeks after Mac moves in with Jack}</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jack Dalton &amp; Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Stablehand + Stable Homes [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1264052</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>66</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Horses + Unconditional Love</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/altschmerzes/gifts">altschmerzes</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>HI HELLO I AM BACK. I am once again FINALLY diving into this universe again, and you guys can thank Gav for prompting this. She wanted Soft, so I wrote Soft. With a tiny bit of angst because it wouldn’t be me if I didn’t. This is set in between chapter 6 and the epilogue, a few weeks after Mac has moved in with Jack. I fully plan on writing more in this universe, I’m sorry it’s all been such a long time coming. Anyways, pleas enjoy the shorted thing I’ve written in a long while</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>  “Hey Mac? Kid, where the hell are you?” Jack steps into the horse barn, exasperation painting his features. Mac was supposed to be helping him fix up some tack after school, and Jack knows he got here afterwards. But it’s been 45 minutes and the kid still hasn’t shown up in the tack room to help. This is the last place he has to search, and he’s about ready to tell the kid he’s in big trouble when he finds him. That is until he hears a soft sniffling coming from Pepper’s stall. Jack freezes, mind flashing back to the first time Mac cried in the stables. But James is out of the picture now, or will be permanently in the next few months or so, so it isn’t about that. Then why... Jack’s face sets into a scowl. If he finds out Mac’s being bullied at school, there’s going to be hell to pay. He walks the last few feet to Pepper’s stall, hesitating just outside the door. Mac must be sitting on the floor, since he can’t see him, and he slowly puts a hand on the latch. He changes his mind at the last second, instead creeping closer to look over the door first. The sight that greets him is enough to make his heart explode. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>  Mac is sitting cross legged on the floor, and Pepper is laying down in front of him with her head almost resting on Mac’s shoulder. It’s rare for horses to lay down unless they’re sick, and for a moment Jack is terrified that’s why Mac’s crying. Except Pepper seems fine, and Mac would have come and gotten him right away if something was wrong. Which means Pepper laid down because of </span>
  <em>
    <span>Mac</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and it makes Jack feel so warm inside. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>  “Mac?” Jack’s voice is soft, not wanting to startle either boy or horse. Mac whips his head around, staring up at Jack with watery, red-rimmed eyes. And then those eyes widen. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>  “I was supposed to help with the tack,” Mac breathes out, and Jack nods. He throws up a hand before Mac can scramble to his feet. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>  “It’s fine. They can wait. What’s wrong, kid?” Mac sniffs, rubbing his sleeve across his eyes. He turns back to Pepper, rubbing her nose with a soft hand. He laughs softly through his tears, and Jack’s relieved to hear it sounds genuine and not self-deprecating. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>  “Nothing’s wrong, Jack. That’s just it. I– I wrote my name as Angus Dalton on accident today and–” Jack inhales sharply. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>  “Really?” It’s only been a few weeks since Mac moved in with Jack and they started the process of adoption. Mac must hear the awe in his voice, because he cranes around to look at him again, a sparkle in his teary eyes. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>  “Yeah. And it just… it felt so </span>
  <em>
    <span>right, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Jack, I can’t even explain it. But it also kind of… scared me, so when I got here I just came to see Pepper. And I was kinda freaking out and I sat down and she got down on the ground with me all on her own, and...” </span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Mac started crying because of Pepper. Mac sniffles before continuing. “How does something just </span>
  <em>
    <span>love </span>
  </em>
  <span>you that much? With no clear reason why?” The pure amazement and disbelief in his voice is enough to break Jack’s heart. He can infer enough to know Mac is also referring to him, and not just Pepper. </span>
</p>
<p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>  Jack opens the door then, and immediately sits down on the floor next to Mac. Pepper greets him with a soft snort, nudging her head against his hand, before bumping her head back into Mac’s shoulder. Mac reaches out and absentmindedly begins petting her again, and she whinnies contententedly. Jack smiles as he watches them. He never would’ve imagined Pepper being like this with anyone besides himself, so it always sends a thrill of joy through him to see them together like this. Wordlessly he wraps an arm around Mac’s shoulders and pulls him in tight, leaning back against the stable door. Mac makes a small sound of surprise before melting into him, and Jack sighs happily. Mac still has his hand out, petting Pepper, but he rests his head on Jack’s shoulder and burrows in close. Jack grins as he feels Mac’s other hand wrap tightly around his waist. In the few weeks Mac has been living with him, Jack has quickly discovered that Mac might as well be nicknamed ‘limpet’. Or starfish, or koala, or anything else that clings to things very tightly. It’s almost painful, watching him try to make up for all the affection he never received growing up, but Jack isn’t complaining. He loves when the kid clings to him like this, and he tightens his grip around his shoulders. Mac makes a happy little hum and turns his head into Jack’s shoulder, and Jack feels like </span>
  <em>
    <span>he </span>
  </em>
  <span>could start crying. He presses a kiss against Mac’s fluffy hair (he had expressly forbade the kid from getting a haircut, knowing he likes it long but James never let him keep it), and wraps his free arm around him too. They sit in silence for a moment before Mac speaks up. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>  “Hey Jack?” His voice is muffled by Jack’s shoulder, and Jack smiles. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>  “Yeah, kid?” There’s no response for a second, and Jack’s just about to say something when Mac takes a deep breath against his neck. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>  “Can I call you dad?” Jack swears his heart stops beating. He hadn’t brought it up, not wanting to make the kid feel pressured into anything. So hearing Mac say it knocks the air out of his lungs. Mac must notice, because he quickly lifts his head up. “Jack?” His voice is so soft it’s almost a whisper, and Jack nearly sobs. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>  “Yeah, kid. You can call me dad as often as you like, okay?” Mac grins, and Jack can see the relief on his face plain as day. Jack laughs, the tears falling now. Mac lets out a breathless laugh, almost of disbelief, and he buries his face back into Jack’s shoulder. “God, kid, of course you can call me dad. Nothing would make me happier,” Jack whispers into Mac’s hair, and Mac hums happily. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>  “Okay, dad.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>  Jack feels like his soul might burst, sitting here on the floor of Pepper’s stall, surrounded by hay and horses and so much love, his kid wrapped tightly in his arms. Nothing could ever be better than this. </span>
</p>
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